Example Rules
(free rule books are available from reception)
Out Of Bounds
A. You are playing the third hole and hit your
first shot off the tee too far to the right, past the white stakes.
White stakes mark out of bounds. If you
hit a ball out of bounds you are penalised stroke and distance,
which means that you play another ball from the place where you
played the original ball, and add an additional stroke to your score
“three off the tee”.
The course boundary is also out of bounds.
Water Hazards (Yellow Stakes)
B. You
are playing the first hole and your first shot off the tee goes into
the ditch across the fairway, which is marked with yellow stakes.
Yellow stakes mark a water hazard. If your ball goes into
a water hazard you have several options:
1. Play a ball as close as possible to the spot where the
original ball was played (1 penalty stroke).
2. Play the ball out of the hazard (no penalty). Please
note that you are not allowed to ground your club in a hazard, but
you are allowed to “swish” the grass with a practice
stroke or when striking the ball. This does not constitute grounding
the club. If you do ground the club you are penalised by 1 stroke.
3. Take a drop as far back as you want (not
nearer the hole), along a line between the point where the ball
entered the hazard and the hole (1 penalty stroke).
Lateral Water Hazards (Red Stakes)
C. You
are playing the seventh hole and hit the ball beyond the red stakes
to the left of the green.
Red stakes mark a lateral water hazard. A lateral hazard
usually runs parallel to the fairway, and different rules therefore
apply to yellow water hazards.
The options for a yellow hazard apply, plus the following
additional option:
1. Drop a ball outside the hazard within two club lengths
of:
a) The point where the ball last crossed the margin of the hazard
b) A point on the opposite side of the hazard, equidistant from
the hole.
This rule also incurs one penalty stroke.
The rules for yellow and red water hazards apply if a ball
is lodged in or lost in such a hazard. In order to be declared lost
there must be reasonable evidence (agreement) that the ball went
in the hazard.
The ball can also be cleaned when taking a drop in these
situations.
When you are taking penalty drops, always
remember to mark points of entry, dropping zones, ball positions
etc. with a tee peg or the like!
Unplayable Ball
D. You are playing the 5th hole and hit your
first shot into the bushes on the left. You find your ball but it
is unplayable. What do you do?
1) Play a ball as close as possible to the
spot from where the original ball was played.
2) Drop a ball within two club lengths of
the spot where the ball lay, but not nearer the hole.
3) Drop a ball behind the point where the
ball lay, keeping this point between the hole and the spot where
the ball is dropped. You can go back as far as you want.
These actions all incur one penalty stroke.
A ball can also be declared unplayable in
a bunker, but must be dropped INSIDE the bunker.
Playing The Wrong Ball
E. You
find a ball and think that it is yours. You play the ball and then
discover that it was the wrong one.
If you do this you incur a two-stroke penalty, unless the
ball was in a hazard, in which case there is no penalty.
You must then play the correct ball. Any strokes played with an
incorrect ball are not added to your score.
If you played a fellow competitor’s ball it must be replaced
on the spot from where it was (erroneously) played.
General advice – if you are in doubt,
ask someone!
